Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; 19 April 1968)[2] is the Ngwenyama (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family.

[5] He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, thus becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at that time.

[11][12] The government exercises total control over the broadcast media, including the only privately owned TV channel, which belongs to the royal family.

[23][24] Mswati III was born on 19 April 1968 at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital, Manzini, the son of Sobhuza II (who had 70 wives during his reign of 82 years).

[26] Mswati was introduced as crown prince in September 1983 and was crowned king on 25 April 1986, aged 18 years and 6 days, thus making him one of the youngest reigning monarchs of the late 20th century,[27][28] Today King Mswati III is Africa's last absolute monarch in the sense that he has the power to choose the prime minister, other top government posts and top traditional posts.

Mswati ruled by decree, but he chose to restore the nation's Parliament, which had been dissolved by his father in order to ensure concentration of power remained with the king.

[27] In an attempt to mitigate the HIV and AIDS pandemic in 2001, the king used his traditional powers to invoke a time-honoured chastity rite (umcwasho) under the patronage of a princess, which encouraged all Swazi maidens to abstain from sexual relations for five years.

This circle includes South African investors who have come to Eswatini to find labour at one-third the cost and a group of white businessmen who are heirs to the British settlers.

However, critics such as the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO)[37] believe that these changes are solely aimed at strengthening and perpetuating the traditional order.

[38] His attendance at the May 2012 Sovereign Monarchs lunch, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, caused some controversy, given criticisms of his regime's human rights record.

His regime has been accused of extrajudicial killings by his forces, along with arbitrary arrests, detentions, and unwarranted searches and seizures of homes and property.

[14] The Prime Minister's Office issued a press statement saying the article in the Times of Swaziland was "reckless and untrue" and that the proposal was for the construction of 5 State Houses, not Palaces, and the cost was only €19.9 million.

[49] In August 2008, hundreds of Swazi women marched through the capital to protest the cost of a shopping spree taken abroad by nine of the King's thirteen wives.

[4] Mswati has a personal stake in a large portion of Eswatini's economy which is a factor in its below-average economic growth for a Sub-Saharan nation.